IN OUR OPINION

Editorial: Farm bill vote confirms trend

Published: Monday, July 15, 2013 at 10:46 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, July 15, 2013 at 10:46 p.m.

Credit House Speaker John Boehner with having a sense of whimsy, anyway.

Amidst a raucous House debate over a new farm bill last Thursday, Republicans cut food stamps from the bill — all the food stamps.

It was the first time in four decades that nutrition assistance to low-income Americans has not been included in the farm bill.

Although the bill would have cut food stamp funding by $20.5 billion over the next ten years, House Republicans complained that wasn’t enough.

Presumably, the House will at some point pass a separate bill to fund food stamps at some lesser amount. We can only hope.

Or maybe not. There appears to be very little ­— pardon the pun — appetite for a food stamp bill in the House.

When asked if such a bill could even make it to the House floor over the objection of the conservatives who hold power, Boehner shrugged and replied:

“If ‘ands’ and ‘buts’ were candy and nuts, every day would be Christmas.”

He added, “My goal right now is to get the farm bill passed. We’ll get to those other issues later.”

At least he didn’t say of the 47 million Americans who depend on food stamps: “Let them eat gruel.”

Stripping food stamps out of the farm bill was, of course, pure show business. There is little chance that the Senate will pass the bill without nutrition assistance included.

And even if it did, President Barack Obama would veto it.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) got it right when he called the legislation “a bill to nowhere.”

“This dead-on-arrival messaging bill only seeks to accomplish one objective: to make it appear that Republicans are moving forward with important legislation even while they continue to struggle at governing,” Hoyer said.

In other words, the farm bill vote was business as usual in the House: Pretend you are doing something when you are not.

So why cut food stamps out of the farm bill? Here’s a hint from the Pew Research Center.

“Democrats are about twice as likely as Republicans to have received food stamps at some point in their lives,” the Center said on Friday, “a participation gap that echoes the deep partisan divide in the U.S. House of Representatives ...”

Partisanship aside, eliminating nutrition assistance from the farm bill was a nasty piece of work on the part of House conservatives.

Fifteen percent, or about one in seven Americans, depends on food stamps to stave off hunger. And here in Marion county, where unemployment over the past half-decade has exceeded both the state and national levels, we are certain that food stamps have been life-savers for many families. That any elected representative would play politics with this survival program is a disgrace.

Unfortunately, that’s what passes for politics as usual these days in our nation’s capital.

At some point, we hope, voters will get sick of politics as usual and start throwing these rascals out. In the meantime, let us hope some adults step up and ensure the food stamp program is secured.

<p>Credit House Speaker John Boehner with having a sense of whimsy, anyway.</p><p>Amidst a raucous House debate over a new farm bill last Thursday, Republicans cut food stamps from the bill — all the food stamps.</p><p>It was the first time in four decades that nutrition assistance to low-income Americans has not been included in the farm bill.</p><p>Although the bill would have cut food stamp funding by $20.5 billion over the next ten years, House Republicans complained that wasn't enough.</p><p>Presumably, the House will at some point pass a separate bill to fund food stamps at some lesser amount. We can only hope.</p><p>Or maybe not. There appears to be very little ­— pardon the pun — appetite for a food stamp bill in the House.</p><p>When asked if such a bill could even make it to the House floor over the objection of the conservatives who hold power, Boehner shrugged and replied:</p><p>“If 'ands' and 'buts' were candy and nuts, every day would be Christmas.”</p><p>He added, “My goal right now is to get the farm bill passed. We'll get to those other issues later.”</p><p>At least he didn't say of the 47 million Americans who depend on food stamps: “Let them eat gruel.”</p><p>Stripping food stamps out of the farm bill was, of course, pure show business. There is little chance that the Senate will pass the bill without nutrition assistance included.</p><p>And even if it did, President Barack Obama would veto it.</p><p>House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) got it right when he called the legislation “a bill to nowhere.”</p><p>“This dead-on-arrival messaging bill only seeks to accomplish one objective: to make it appear that Republicans are moving forward with important legislation even while they continue to struggle at governing,” Hoyer said.</p><p>In other words, the farm bill vote was business as usual in the House: Pretend you are doing something when you are not.</p><p>So why cut food stamps out of the farm bill? Here's a hint from the Pew Research Center.</p><p>“Democrats are about twice as likely as Republicans to have received food stamps at some point in their lives,” the Center said on Friday, “a participation gap that echoes the deep partisan divide in the U.S. House of Representatives ...”</p><p>Partisanship aside, eliminating nutrition assistance from the farm bill was a nasty piece of work on the part of House conservatives.</p><p>Fifteen percent, or about one in seven Americans, depends on food stamps to stave off hunger. And here in Marion county, where unemployment over the past half-decade has exceeded both the state and national levels, we are certain that food stamps have been life-savers for many families. That any elected representative would play politics with this survival program is a disgrace.</p><p>Unfortunately, that's what passes for politics as usual these days in our nation's capital.</p><p>At some point, we hope, voters will get sick of politics as usual and start throwing these rascals out. In the meantime, let us hope some adults step up and ensure the food stamp program is secured.</p>